On April 5th, 2022, SuperAwesome took part in the inaugural IAB PlayFronts, an event dedicated to advertising and partnership opportunities in the gaming industry.
At the event, our Managing Director of SuperAwesome Gaming, Nick Walters, and Chief Revenue Officer, Ben Zagorski led a presentation on how brands are creating immersive experiences to reach gamers in the metaverse.
Along with SuperAwesome, the IAB PlayFronts featured presentations from Meta, Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Twitch, and IGN, among others.
Throughout their presentation, Ben and Nick discussed the role that gaming plays in the metaverse. In addition to playing games in the metaverse, a large number of gamers are also participating in parties, role-playing, concerts, and general socializing. According to Nick, we’ve “gone beyond playing”.
The gaming ecosystem has also shifted in that 90% of 6-16-year-olds identify as “gamers”, meaning, brands have the opportunity to rethink their digital engagement strategy with this age demographic and Gen-Z more generally. Embracing both gaming as a medium and the wider gaming ecosystem enables brands to meet the next generation where they are.
Nick continued, outlining the unique power of a gaming activation. This approach provides the ability to reach people at scale in a way that feels more relevant and immersive than other mediums.
As an example, Nick cited SuperAwesome’s integration of Spirit Untamed into Horse Valley. Players could unlock a Spirit avatar if they completed a 30-minute quest, a challenge which was taken up by 20% of visitors. Media driving to the activation led to a 250% increase in game visits during the integration, helping Horse Valley attract an even larger audience.
Ben and Nick ended their presentation with four steps for developing a game integration strategy:
- Be strategic and design the right approach for your brand.
- Build immersive and scalable experiences.
- Plug into the media ecosystem.
- Be compliant and age-appropriate.
Looking to learn about safely reaching 6-16 year olds through gaming integrations? Our free report, How brands can enter the youth gaming ecosystem, acts as a guide to leveraging game integrations to easily and safely engage with young audiences. Download it now to learn how you can execute an effective youth gaming strategy.
